Senator Carper: The Costs of Inaction On Reforming USPS

As we learned this week, the Postal Service is moving forward with cutting hours at post offices and offering retirement incentives for some postal workers across the country. Rather than forcing the Postal Service to continue to rely on these sorts of piecemeal, stopgap measures to cut costs, Congress must work to enact comprehensive reform that provides the tools and resources the Postal Service needs to survive in the 21st Century. The Senate has done this. The ball is in the House’s court. Although the Postal Reform Act of 2011 was passed out of the relevant House committee in October 2011, leaders in the House of Representatives have yet to schedule a vote on the bill. The Senate, however, passed a bipartisan postal reform bill, the 21st Century Postal Service Act, on April 25, 2012.

With each day that the House fails to take action, the Postal Service loses $25 million. Further delays could accelerate an already deteriorating financial situation at the Postal Service that would threaten a mailing industry that employs over 8 million people and generates nearly $1 trillion in economic activity each year. Make no mistake, the Postal Service’s financial problems are dire, but they are solvable if Congress acts to pass comprehensive postal reform legislation.The Postal Service’s Losses, By the Numbers

$6,500,000,000 Total FY 2012 Postal Service Losses So Far$500,000,000 What New USPS Cost-Cutting Plan for Post Offices Saves in 1 Year$25,000,000 What the Postal Service Loses Each Day16 Days How Long it Currently Takes USPS to lose $500,000,000 – the same amount of savings announced in new USPS plan

$13,000,000,000+ Current Postal Service Debt to U.S. Treasury

143 Days Until USPS has to pay $11.1 billion for future retiree healthcare costs (as of 5/10)
15 Days Since the Senate Passed Comprehensive Postal Reform Legislation (as of 5/10)211 Days Since the House Reported Its Postal Reform Bill Out of Committee (as of 5/10)??? Days Until the House Takes Action on Postal Reform Legislation

4 thoughts on “Senator Carper: The Costs of Inaction On Reforming USPS”

USPS can only survive in present state as a government operated service with no concern for a breakeven bottomline. Government health care, Government Postal Care. Need a tea party. Cos effective operations means nothing. Closing surburban neighborhood-community post offices that has a need 60 years ago but as the results of changing demographics, transportation and road systems, advances in communication technology in the 21st century and the increasing sale of stamps at national retails outlets the need for multi post offices in 5-6 mile radius is history. USPS 3.2 billion dollar loss in quarter 2 should be hand writting on the wall that revenue is decreasing as electronic instant messaging has created a nonreoverable volume loss and revenue is decreasing. Cost will increase as politicans have no foresight as the end results which will subsidize to socialize.
Tax payors will be burdened to pay for politicans playing post office.

Don’t pay the 5.5 Billion a year, don’t pay another cent! DEFAULT and let them take you ( the USPS ) to court. Show the overages in payments to FERS and Civil Service are equal or more than what you owe. Claim discrimation because like Government Agencies are NOT held to this accounting. As a last resort, MAKE them take the Post Office back as a Government Cabinet Agency as provided in the Constitution! Also DON’T contribute to FECA and DUMP that program back on the Federal Government. WHY is the Postal Service payong for ALL the people in FECA!